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AmyM

AmyM

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Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom
Robert T. Kiyosaki, Sharon L. Lechter
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel
Nat Gertler, Steve Lieber
Fantasy! Cartooning
Ben Caldwell
Forever
Maggie Stiefvater
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! - Robert T. Kiyosaki If you can get past the gimmick (and allegedly non-existent “rich dad”) in Rich Dad Poor Dad this book actually has a pretty strong premise. With his book Kiyosaki sets out to change the way you view money: what it means to you, how you deal with it, and how you should put it to work for you instead of the reverse. He can get a bit repetitive, with both examples and his narration, but in terms of drilling his message home it is a style with results. I think he’s right on point in regards to how poor and middle-class people use their money and the inevitable pit that becomes. I’ve always been a black sheep in how I viewed the relationship between work and money, but in that same token I wasn’t really stepping too far beyond the boundary either. When I didn’t work I wasn’t working, but I also didn’t have money working in my favor either so I would just get further in debt. I thought I had freedom but I was really just charging at the expense of my future. If you want to live freer then you do still have to work, but you have to build a system that works for you and not just sit idly by.I don’t dream about being a billionaire, but I want to live my life on my own terms and in this day and age that’s no easy task. So I am thankful that my eyes opened a bit and that investing doesn’t sound so scary anymore. I’m not saying that I will just go out and buy stocks, this book doesn’t say that, but I will actively learn more about it (and other avenues) and see where that takes me.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Marvel Classics) - 'Eric Shanower',  'L. Frank Baum' 3.75
Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller - Jeff Rubin A must-read for sure. I found this book to be both engaging and easy to read (which is always a positive for non-fiction!). It is a few years out of date, published in 2009, but I'm sure Rubin is/was spot on with his assessments and predictions for the economy. I'm even more convinced now that we as a society need to stop twiddling our thumbs, wake up, and extricate ourselves from oil and other fossil fuels.
Thresholds - Nina Kiriki Hoffman I was prepared to give this a 2.5 but upon finishing it I realized that not a whole lot happened for a full-fledged story. If this had been a cartoon it would've been like the first 7 minutes. I don't know if I'll bother with the next instalment... I only read it for the cover art anyway (Joshua Middleton).

LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN VOL TWO TP: 2

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2 - Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neill Hmm.. what do I say really? I am a fan of Kevin O'Neill's artwork and I hadn't heard of him before this, so that's something gained. Otherwise I'm just not a fan of this series. I definitely support the theory behind it, and I like similar works (Hellboy/B.P.R.D., The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica, etc.) but I don't really get why this particular one was produced. I don't think Moore covered anything that had to be brought into this world that any of the original stories lacked. Also slogging through the travel expeditions at the end of the volume was a nightmare...

LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN VOL ONE

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1 - Kevin O'Neill, Alan Moore

This book had a very rough start with me and there were a few times that I could've set it down completely, but overall it got better. I don't know if its Moore or what, but the blatant sexism/misogyny really bothers me. It affected my enjoyment with Watchmen and it was just as brutal here.

 

Call me crazy but I actually like the movie, but I definitely agree that the tones are far different. In either I don't get Mina Harker (nee Murray)--she's just not right in either fan fiction.

 

My brother has lent me the entire series, so I guess it's onwards with the next installment.

The Nine Pound Hammer - John Claude Bemis It took me over a week and a half to read this and I know it wasn't completely the book's fault (I started a new job, etc.) however it never really did anything for me. This is a competently written book and I have no qualms about continuing with the rest of the trilogy... but I don't really have any desire to do so. We'll see.

The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys - 3.5
Nightfall Gardens - Allen Houston [I won my copy through the Goodreads First Reads giveaway!]The synopsis and cover were enough to garner my attention, and I have to say the book looks even better in person. I'm a sucker for quality illustrations, especially one with a decidedly vintage flair, and the gothic image set my mind abuzz.From what I can gather this is actually a self-published novel (my first) which just added to my curiosity. In that vein it was a good introduction for me. Its written in an effortless way, where you feel like you're getting folded up within the world. The pacing is great, I never felt like it got too slow--it was always fresh. I liked the sense of mystery, and how steeped in shadow it felt. However, I don't know if it was just a stylistic choice (it did seem reminiscent of children's classics) but the long paragraphs seemed a bit odd to me, especially when containing dialogue. It made some spots unnecessarily hard to follow.For this kind of story the world-building and tone are of the utmost importance and I think it succeeded there. The characters were defined but not incredibly fleshed out. Lily, the protagonist, was purposefully shallow and I thought it was a bit much in places. Overall I liked the characters though so I can't say it was problem. I really enjoyed my read and will be holding onto my copy for sure. This was a very interesting and original story. I would say though that it felt like it was just one round of editing shy of being finished. I think with just a bit more polish this would've been a spectacular read. As it was it was very strong debut and I am eager to read more.

Llama Llama Misses Mama

Llama Llama Misses Mama - Anna Dewdney Had to read this to my niece at bedtime. It was fun reading it out loud.

Magic by the Lake (Edward Eager's Tales of Magic)

Magic by the Lake - Edward Eager, N.M. Bodecker I had discovered Eager a couple of years ago and really enjoyed Half Magic (which is a prequel of sorts) so when I saw this in a thrift store I was sure to grab it. It was a cute story and I always love illustrations, but this wasn't a book I have to hold onto.
Castle Storm - Garry Douglas Kilworth My actual rating: 2.25I found the mass market paperback at a library sale and its John Howe cover made it an instant buy. Also my having a healthy appetite for animal tales, especially those set in a fantasy realm--it was a done deal.This is actually the second book of a series, but I went ahead with it deciding that if I liked it I could always fill in the blanks later. Turns out it was a good thing I didn't try to track down the first as I doubt I'd have ever made it to Castle Storm.Kilworth has an imagination that much was clear, but his execution could've been vastly improved. None of the characters really came alive and fell flat. The dialogue was quite cheesy and overlong where you just wished the curtain got pulled forcing whichever character to shut up. (The princess character could've easily been removed in most of her scenes, etc.)Some of the situations were very original, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to compensate for the weaker areas. As an early draft this would've worked fine, but as a published work I had higher expectations.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Tales - Washington Irving, Arthur Rackham 3.5
Treason - Orson Scott Card DNF at 5%.
The Giant-Slayer - Iain Lawrence 3.5

The School for Good and Evil

The School for Good and Evil - Soman Chainani 3.25